PorchDrinking’s Weekly Denver Beer Beat | December 31, 2019

The Denver Beer Beat is a weekly roundup of brewery openings, special tappings, firkins and one-off batches, bottle releases, dinners, pairings, and more happening in the Front Range and beyond. Be sure to check in each Wednesday to discover anything and everything happening around Colorado’s beer scene. Now let’s get to this week’s can’t miss beer events.

Tuesday, December 31

New year, new beer! That’s right, at our New Year’s Eve celebration, we’ll be sipping a beer that is sure to get your 2020 off to a delicious start.

Tutti Frutti Juicy Freak:
This special limited edition version of Juicy Freak was brewed to ring in 2020! Exploding with rich American hop notes of orange, mango, pear, and stone fruit, this tropical journey is smooth and creamy. The addition of grapefruit, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb, and blood orange kicks it up a fruity notch or two! Cheers!

Ring in the New Year by joining the Ratio Beerworks team for one helluva year-end blowout. Whether you feel like getting gussied up, or just want to rock a jean jacket, you’re all welcome to join for a rowdy dance party, midnight balloon drop, beer toast, and special tappings.

Our NYE Party will feature a special night of beer releases including a festive firkin tapping, and a free midnight toast for all attendees.

The Mystery Sisters DJ Duo will once be spinning punk and dance vinyl tracks for our taproom dance party, so come ready to throw down. Finally, right before midnight, we’ll be handing out free tasters to all attendees to help toast to the new year! Celebrate a fresh kickoff to 2020 over great beer and good times at Ratio Beerworks. NO COVER – Free to Attend!

(Special Events and Festivals)

Wednesday, January 1

Details: We’re clearing out all of our bottles and offering some outrageous prices! Stop in anytime from now until 1/2/2020 and snag a great deal while supplies last. Limited quantities, first come first serve, and must consume onsite.

Friday, January 3

Details: After a full week of not knowing what day it actually is, the holiday fog is finally starting to clear and you’re slowly making your way back to reality. We have just the reward for surviving the end of 2019! We will be releasing our first cans of 2020, including our highly anticipated Cookie Butter Barleywine!

Details: Let’s battle two great competitors in the craft beer world! Hazy IPAs are juicy, mouthwateringly fruity with a nice fluffy mouthfeel, all while Clear IPAs are packed full of dank citrus pine notes with a nice clean dry finish!

We decided to brew up one of each to put up against each other! Here again for the second time is Cowboys Vs Hipsters our unforgettably Clear IPA brewed with Vic Secret & Strata. And to introduce the second in our Experimental Hazy IPA Series you’ll find Spirit Guide No. 2 brewed with pilsner, wheat, and a plethora of toasted oats hopped with Azacca, Mosaic, Galaxy, and Simcoe!

Both beers will be available in 16 oz 4-packs, Singles, or a Mixed Pack containing two cans of each! Doors open at 2PM for our can release and we’ll also be serving a Hazy Vs Clear IPA Flight containing 2 Hazy IPAs and 2 Clear IPAs. Vote for your favorite for a chance to win a 4-pack & gift card! Winner will be announced on Jan 4th!

Details: PRAGUE AFTER DARK Czech Dark Lager
ABV 4.7%
RELEASE DATE: January 3
January Can of the Month Release in 16 oz 4-packs!

Take a moonlit meander through the streets of Prague with our Czech Dark Lager. Malt-forward with a soft bitterness and floral hops character like its sister beer, Czech Pale Lager (Czech Pilsner), but with a slight roasted, nutty flavor and darker hue.

Saturday, January 4

Details: We’re kicking 2020 off with some special beers, and one of the first is the newest varietal of our barley wine series, Wood. Hitting the taproom Saturday (1/4), this version used Spanish Cedar to pull in unique flavors to this massive beer.

With bold wood aromatics from the Spanish cedar, it’s like walking into a wood shop. When you give it a sip, the flavor starts with notes of grapefruit zest, clove and cinnamon, followed by caramel and toffee that fades into vanilla, then at the finish all these flavors come together like some kind of wooden gingerbread man with grapefruit zest buttons.

Details: Mark your calendar for January 4th! We will be releasing our first single cask of the year and will open our Norther membership enrollment!

Norther memberships are limited so show up right at noon to get yourself added to this great membership. Annual membership perks include:
Six bottle releases throughout the year
Beer and merch discounts
Special glassware at the North Washington taproom
An annual holiday party
The inside scoop on upcoming beer releases and events
AND a monthly happy hour
All for $99!

Details: We’re ready to give you the FUNK, the SASS, and the in-your-face WEIRDNESS that you deserve! We have happily effervescent Red Globe Peach spontaneous bottles and a few remaining cases of the sparkling Chinook wet hop beer. While our first bottle release showcased BALANCE and NUANCE, this second release is highlighting some of our favorite edges.

-🍑 🍑 🍑-
First up we’ve got HARBORED IN THE FUZZ (750ml bottle, $25, 6.2% ABV, limit 3/person)
Our second effervescent stone-fruit bomb, this two-year aged spontaneous beer was refermented on Colorado-grown Red Globe Peaches from Hotchkiss for ten months before bottle conditioning for six months with local Alfalfa honey.
Sun-warmed fuzzy peach skin, fresh squeezed orange juice, and sweaty blue cheese aromas jump out of the glass. The intensely fruity and funky nose juxtaposes more delicate Bellini-like flavors. This beer is incredibly dry and pleasantly acidic. We think of Harbored in the Fuzz as the funkier brother to “So Last Season: Nectarine”!

We’ll also have Festive Splash, a brand-new still beer in boxes!
Festive Splash is a multiple puncheon blend of year-old spon-spon bing-bong. Aromas of over-ripened pineapple, black tea with orange, and musty cellar funk are followed by bright citrus-like acidity that is balanced by moderate aged-hop bitterness and a slight honey-like sweetness. We are excited to release this thoroughly drinkable still-blend, which targets flavors reminiscent of those found in young spontaneous beers offered by our Belgian contemporaries.

After a few weeks of refermentation and conditioning we pulled the beer off the fruit, packaged it in bottles and kegs, then allowed it to naturally carbonate. Now we’re proud to offer our award winning wild Saison, Westfield, with a pleasant lil’ cherry kick. All the oaky, bretty Westfield character you know & love with additional nuances of sweet cherry skin, dried berry, and even a hint of that almondy pit character. Perfectly balanced between saison & fruited wild ale.

We’ll have draft pours and 500ml bottles of Cherry Westfield available in our Bier Pub this Saturday, January 4th from 1-10pm. Limit 3 bottles per customer, per day; $12.50ea (+ tax). Grey Duck Eats will also be on-site at 4pm helping us celebrate the release of our new twist on Westfield!